College Football Odds & Picks for Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech: Saturday’s Betting Value Remains With Fighting Irish

Notre Dame at Georgia Tech Odds

Notre Dame looks to continue its undefeated season on Saturday against a reeling Georgia Tech squad. The Irish have taken care of business in their first five games, including a 45-3 blowout to beat Pittsburgh last weekend.

A date with Clemson looms next week, so it's paramount that Notre Dame takes Georgia Tech seriously if it wants a shot at the College Football Playoff.

Georgia Tech is going through a lot of growing pains with second-year head coach Geoff Collins. After back-to-back blowout losses to Clemson and Boston College, the Yellow Jackets need to find a way to generate some offense, but it won't be easy against one of the best defenses in the country on Saturday.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Offense

Ian Book has been even more efficient than last year, throwing for 8.3 yards per attempt in his first five starts. Of course, losing his top three pass-catchers from last year was always going to be difficult, but Notre Dame has a lot of talented players at the skill positions, which has made the transition seamless. The Irish rank 12th in Passing Success.

The strength of the Fighting Irish offense lies in its running game. Notre Dame brought back all of its starters on the offensive line, and dual-threat running back in Kyren Williams has been a big problem for opposing defenses.

Williams is already running the ball for 5.8 yards per carry and has five touchdowns on the year. Notre Dame should utilize Williams effectively since Georgia Tech is one of the worst defenses in the country.

Defense

The Notre Dame defense has gone through some changes, losing three starters on both the defensive line and in the secondary. So far, both of those units have made a seamless transition, as the Irish are allowing only 4.4 yards per play through their first five games.

The defensive line, in particular, has been terrific, allowing only 3.2 yards per carry, which has led to a ranking of fourth in Defensive Line Yards and fifth in Defensive Rushing Success.

Notre Dame has also done a fantastic job in creating Havoc, ranking eighth nationally, which should give it an advantage; Georgia Tech has been a turnover machine this year (18).

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Offense

Despite getting blown out the last two weeks, things are starting to trend in the right direction behind freshman dual-threat quarterback Jeff Sims. Sims took a shot against Boston College last weekend that knocked him out of the game. However, Collins said Sims is good to go for Saturday.

Sims has improved the Yellow Jackets' passing attack in 2020, throwing for 8.0 yards per attempt. He just has a lot of issues taking care of the ball. He's thrown 10 interceptions and lost four fumbles through his first six starts. That could be a major issue against a Notre Dame defense that ranks eighth in Havoc this season.

Even though they've transitioned away from the triple option, the Yellow Jackets have run the ball pretty effectively at 4.4 yards per carry. However, much of that was due to facing some of the worst run defenses in the country before facing Clemson and Boston College the last two weekends.

Defense

The Yellow Jackets brought back a lot of their defense from last season, but it hasn't translated to any success. They're allowing 6.0 yards per play this season, which is very similar to their 2019 numbers.

The Yellow Jacket defense has been decent against the run so far, allowing 4.4 yards per carry. However, Boston College gashed it last weekend, rushing for 264 yards and 6.0 yards per carry.

Although it didn't show last weekend, the real issues for Georgia Tech lie in its secondary. The Yellow Jackets are allowing 7.5 yards per pass attempt this season and rank 52nd in Defensive Passing Success. However, as we've seen with Tech so far this season, it struggles when it has to face an elite quarterback like Trevor Lawrence or Dillon Gabriel.

Betting Analysis & Pick

I think this game has blowout written all over it.

Georgia Tech's offense is going to struggle because this Notre Dame defense is up there with Clemson for best in the ACC. On the flip side, Ian Book and the Fighting Irish offense should be able to move the ball at will against a below-average Georgia Tech defense.

Sure, Notre Dame is in a look-ahead spot with Clemson looming next week, but it will need to take Georgia Tech seriously if it wants to feel good about itself heading into next weekend.

I have the Fighting Irish projected as -31.54 favorites on the road, so I think there is plenty of value on Notre Dame at -20.

Pick: Notre Dame -20 (up to -26.5)